Do you start all of your plants from seeds yourself, or do you have any that you've purchased already started? What are all the plants you have in your garden?
Thank you for the questions! I LOVE talking about gardening :D
Before about 2 years ago, I used to just put seeds in the ground right around Easter or early May. Some would take & some wouldn’t & throughout the season, I would buy plant starts from garden nurseries once they went on sale.
Last year, having a much bigger garden to work with, I decided to start seeds indoors, beginning around February/March. I think some of the starts didn’t transplant all that well, but others did really well. Then, I also planted seeds out in the soil in early spring. Then, I would fill in the holes in the garden as the season progressed. There are lots of cool charts to help you figure out when to start inside or when to plant outdoors, once you know your zone. We’re in zone 8. The zones let you know how long your growing seasons is & that helps you pick veggies that will have enough time to produce.
This year, I started the following seeds indoors on the last day of January:
onions, cauliflower (haven’t grown successfully yet), cabbage, radish (these grow quickly, so you don’t really need to start them indoors), lima beans, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeno, peas, green beans, tomato, eggplant (first attempt), celery, okra (I’m on a mission but no luck yet), sunflowers, broccoli, cantaloupe (first attempt), pumpkin (first attempt), parsnips (no success yet, but trying again), bell pepper & garlic.
Then, there are things that are already in the garden that come back each year: raspberry (regular & golden), artichokes, strawberries, blueberries, rhubarb, ground cherries, apple & cherry trees, hazelnut tree, valerian, tarragon, mint, sage, rosemary, kale (leftover from last year & keeps all winter in the garden) & I’m going to check for any more root veggies — like carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas – before I add in fresh compost. Then, I’ll be ready to start transplanting some cooler crops & even putting out seeds for snap peas, radishes, cilantro, beans & so on.
So, I would say to start playing around with seeds in a sunny spot in your house a couple of months before spring & then you can kind of get a feel for how quick certain things grow. Start with your favorite vegetables that would save you money at the grocery store, for example. Some things can be grown in containers & do great because you can move them outdoors when it gets warmer. I think I’m trying my garlic, jalapeno, eggplant & okra in pots so that I can mimic a longer growing season that they need.
The people who lived in our house before us put in so many edibles in their landscaping & put a big garden in the front yard. So, I had to step up my game & just go for it. I had many successes & plenty of flops. But, there’s so much to learn about companion planting, ways to trellis different vegetables to get more vertical & make better use of your space & which plants grow best in containers.
My husband & I used to joke that we were Faith Gardeners. We just threw the seeds in the ground & just waited to see what would would work. I’ve gotten a little bit more methodical in the past couple of years, but I still have that Just Try & See sort of mentality. Plants want to survive & thrive & will do so in many conditions – even if you don’t know your soil type or if you get the full sun/part shade things just perfect. Let me know if you have any other questions & thank you for letting me talk about gardening :D